Trevor John Redmond (16 June 1927 – 17 September 1997)Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2003) ''Bristol Bulldogs: 50 Greats'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. was a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider from New Zealand. He earned 17 caps for the New Zealand national speedway team and 11 caps for the South African national team. Redmond also opened a speedway track in

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1962 and le later became a promoter of

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

and

hot rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimized for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and ma ...

racing, mainly in southwest England, through his Autospeed organisation.

Career

Rider

Redmond started riding speedway in 1949 at the Aranui track in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. He moved to the UK when he won a team place with the newly formed Aldershot Shots in 1950. He was successful enough to attract the

Wembley Lions The Wembley Lions were an English ice hockey team. History The team were founded in 1934 but showed a continuity with the London Lions team which had played at various venues since 1924. The Wembley team were based at the newly built Empire ...

to sign him in 1951, following an unsuccessful attempt by Walthamstoe to sign him. He remained at Wembley until their closure in 1956. Whilst with the Lions, Redmond qualified for two World Championship finals. A season in non-league speedway followed in 1957 but in 1958 he did not ride at all, instead he opened a track in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

. He returned to racing for a spell with the Swindon Robins and moved onto the Bristol Bulldogs in 1960. As a Bristol rider, Redmond won the Provincial League Riders' Championship, held at Dudley Wood Stadium on 24 September 1960. The Bristol track closed at the end of that season and in 1961 Redmond had a brief spell with the

Wolverhampton Wolves Wolverhampton Wolves were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Wolverhampton, England. They were champions of the United Kingdom five times and raced at Monmore Green Stadium from 1928 to 2023. History 1928–1930 Speedway (known ...

. In subsequent years he was rider and promoter of league teams at Neath,(1962,) St. Austell,(1963) and Glasgow,(1964-65.) He was one of only 2 riders to appear in all 5 Provincial League Riders Championship Finals, being winner in 1960, and a disappointed Runner-Up in 1961 after a broken chain in his final ride cost him the title.

Promoter

In 1958, Redmond promoted at St Austell, on an open licence, and in 1961, he also promoted open meetings in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

(Shelbourne). In 1962, he opened a track in

. The team was named the Neath Welsh Dragons and operated in the Speedway Provincial League. The team finished in second place, which was considered a remarkable achievement by the speedway press. Neath folded at the start of the 1963 season, so Redmond took the

St Austell Gulls The St Austell Gulls were a speedway team which operated from 1949 until their closure in 1964 at the Cornish Stadium at Par, St Austell in Cornwall. In 1997 the team rode at the Clay Country Moto Parc until the club finally closed in 2000. ...

into the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. In 1964 he continued to both ride and promote, but this time with the Glasgow Tigers, which he reopened and operated from the White City Stadium. He stopped finally riding in 1964, but continued to promote the club until the start of the 1967 season. In 1970, Redmond was influential in the reopening of speedway at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, with the return of the

. He was later a member of the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

and was involved in the administration of international speedway, and he managed New Zealand speedway teams. He promoted motor racing at several tracks in southern England, including

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

St Day St Day () is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is positioned between the village of Chacewater and the town of Redruth. The electoral ward St Day and Lanner had a population of 4,473 according to the 2011 cens ...

, Weymouth,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, and two events at

. He died at his home in Glastonbury in 1997.

World final appearances

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

- London,

- Res - Did not ride *

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

- London, Wembley Stadium - 13th - 5ptsBamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. Trevor set up the business Autospeed and opened tracks in Newton Abbot and St Austell where they raced Bangers, Hot Rods and stock cars. Autospeed were the first to run Auto Rods which were to become the Saloon Stock Cars. They were also the first to run SuperRods which started as Jags and Fords as big engined Hotrods.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redmond, Trevor 1927 births 1997 deaths New Zealand speedway riders Speedway promoters Wembley Lions riders Bristol Bulldogs riders New Zealand expatriate speedway riders in England Wolverhampton Wolves riders Swindon Robins riders Glasgow Tigers riders Expatriate speedway riders in Scotland Aldershot Shots riders Neath Welsh Dragons riders Expatriate speedway riders in Wales St Austell Gulls riders South African speedway riders